Father of Swiss Twins Wrote Letter Claiming He Killed Them

Hopes of finding the two girls alive have all but vanished after police confirmed their father wrote a letter to his wife saying he had murdered them.

Police have been searching for the two girls since Matthias Schepp threw himself under a train in Cerignola, Italy on Feb. 5. He had been traveling with his daughters Livia and Alessia but he hadn’t been seen with them since leaving the island of Corsica days before. Police confirmed Friday that they had found a letter in Cerignola dated Feb. 5 and addressed to his estranged wife Irina Lucidi claiming he had killed the girls, but did not specify how, although in the days leading up to the voyage he researched poison, firearms, and suicide on the internet. It is suspected he threw the girls overboard during an overnight ferry trip. Schepp, 42, was born in Canada but lived in Switzerland.